Rotary casting



Nov. 4 19240 D. 8. DE LAVAUD ROTARY CASTING Filed Aug. 27 1920 '5 Sheets-Sheet l A PF M A TTORNEYS.

Nov. 4 1924.

D. S. DE LAVAUD ROTARY CASTING Filed A112. 27. 1920 INVENTOR:

ATTORNEYS.

Nov. 4 1924 1513,74? D. 5. DE LAVAUD ROTARY CASTING File d Auil. 27.

1920 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR.

3 LL 94 M BY 9 W AT ORNEYS. 1

Nov. 4, 1924., 1,513,747

D. s. DE LAVAUD v ROTARY CASTING Filed Aug. 27 1920 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTORJ.

A TTORNEYS.

= county of New lowing Patented Nov. 4, 1924.

UNWED' stares rarsar caries.

DIMITRI SENSAUD DE LAVAUD, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

ROTARY GA STING.

Application filed August 27, mo. Serial n6. 406,520.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, DIMITRI SENSAUD DE LAVAUD, a citizen of the United States of Brazil, and a resident of New York, in the Yorkand State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Rotary Casting, of which the following is a-specification;

This invention relates to the art of centrifugally casting hollow articles, and more particularly aims to provide a simple and rapid production manufacturing unit for casting simultaneously on a single rotor a plurality of such articles in mould compartments or annular recesses preferably provided between a plurality or stack of face to face alternately arranged periphery and side-surface mould-rings or mould-elements of the character described in my co-pending applications, Serial Nos. 225,389 and 236,009.-

Some of the difficulties which I have observed in manufacturing such articles, say to be used as piston-ring blanks, are the fol:

First, it has been found exceedingly diflicult, after a stack of mould-elements is arranged in the proper order, to mount. such elements on the rotor and under compression to set up the proper face pressures be tween the elements, and at the same time to mount such stack on and demount such stack from the rotor with that speed necessary to rapid production. When arranging for the secure carriage. of the mould-elements by the rotor during the actual casting operation and during congealing of the cast metal, it has proved a trying problem to maintain all the elements substantially concentric with the rotor axis and yet so as to permit slightly different degrees of heat expansion of the lndividual elements radially of the rotor axis.

Second, a serious obstacleto rapid production has been the necessity of disassembling the stack of mould-elements and the intermingled castings upon removal from a rotor, in such a way as to segregate the'castings and quickly re-stack the mould-elements 1n predetermined order for remounting' the stack on the same or another rotor, while, as is preferable, cooling the individual mouldelements, as by immersion in a liquid such as kerosene, following the segregation of the castings and before re-stacking the elements.

The very high temperatures, not only of the required castings but of the mould-elements, have made it inconvenient if not painful and dangerous to attempt to manually perform the operations of disassembly, segregation of the castings, kerosene-immersion of the elements, and re-stacking of the latter.

Third, grave troubles have developed when relying upon even a careful and phlegmatic attendant to serve the metal delivery means, as a rotatable trough, and to rotate the trough for dumping at the precise slow speed required; since I have discovered that the manner and. rate of dumping the trough must be pursuant to the following law, to wit, the trough must be dumped to discharge the metal received thereby into the mouldstructure in a direction the same as the diand better results being obtained as the trough is rotated at a slower and slower rate, but with the best results obtained when the trough is rotated neither too fast nor too slow but at a very slow rate.

The invention has various objects and advantages, as will appear further below, but it has three main objects, which are to over come theabove described troubles.

As to the first main object, that of providing on the rotor a supporting means for the plurality of mould-elements, so constructed. as tow facilitate the ready mounting on and dismounting from said supporting means ofthe plurality of elements, and so functioning during casting to properly hold the elements and at the same time to permit rel tive expansions thereof, means for attaining this object have already been suggested in the art, in my co-pending applications above specified. But these previous means have all involved the idea of securing the mould-elements together to constitute practically a single block or unit for handling toward, from and on the casting machine; and such arrangements have, in turn,

special machines, ap liances or fixtures to disassemble the bloc or unit after removal from the machine and before segregating the castings and for re-assembly of the block or unit before mounting the same on the machine. According to the present invention, the use of any such special machines, appliances or fixtures is obviated and mg on mould-elements of a peculiar kind.

This

supporting means includes a plurality of circumferentlally spaced aligning supports, each support including a member reversely bent into at least two subdivisions, with the subdivisions of different degrees of resiliency all as will be clearly explained below.

As to the second main object, that of providing, preferably as a part of the casting machine, to save space and work and make the most compact manufacturing unit, means for expeditiously removing the stack and intermingled castings from the rotor, then disassembling the stack while segregating the castings, and then cooling the mould-elements and reassembling the stack in the proper order to facilitate convenient transfer of the stack for again mounting the stack, empty of castings, in preparation for another casting operation, on the rotor, the following arrangements are provided, to wit, a means for receiving the mould-elements and the intermingled castings when detached from the rotor and for guiding the same for movement toward a predetermined point, means at such point for subdividing the mould-elements and castings into sub-v groups some consisting of a single mouldelement and some of a single mould-element and a casting, and guiding and transporting means beyond said point for automatically segregating the castings and .for automatically re-stacking the mould-elements in predeterminedorder; all as ,will be clearly explained below.

As to the third main object, the provision of a control for the metal delivery means, as a trough, with. such control arranged for adjustment to perform automatically the necessary things to insure success in casting, this object is satisfied by providing the following combination of means. The illustrative arrangement of the drawings includes a rotatable trough. In connection with such trough, there is shown a means for automatically rotating the trough for dumpin at a predetermined rate of speed, means fir holding the trough in metal re ceiving position, and means for releasing said holding means and permitting operation of the trough rotating means; all as will be clearly explained below. In order that, if desired, there may be used the invention disclosed in United States Letters Patent No. 1,286,555 issued to me, said holding means includes an adjustable means to predetermine the angular position assumed by the trough during functioning of said holding means.

In the accompanying drawings, illustrating a preferred embodiment of the invention for the casting of blanks for manufacturing concentric piston-rings-although of course it will be understood that the inven tion may be otherwise applied, as, for example, in the casting of blanks for manufacturing eccentric piston-rings pursuant to United States Letters Patent No. 1,257,- 325 issued to me, or for the casting of other annular objects in groups,

Fig. 1 is a. compound view of one of the periphery mould-elements which may be used, the top figures showing the element in plan and the bottom figure showing the element in edge elevation;

Fig. 2 is a similar view of one of the sidel-surface mould-elements which may be use Fig. 3 is an axial section taken through a part of a stack including a plurality of the two kinds of mould-elements arranged in alternation to provide between each two adjacent side-surface mould-elements an annular compartment for having cast therein a single annular object;

Fig. 4 is a side of the unit for casting, disassembling'the mould-elements, s-gregating the castings and'cooling and reassembling the mouldelements;

Fig. 5 is a side elevation of the right half of such unit; I

Figs. 6 and 7 are, respectively, views in plan of the parts shown in side elevation in Figs. 4; and 5; A

Fig. 8 is an enlarged fragmentary detail view of one of the aligning supports of the three such supports carried by each rotor to constitute the supporting means for the stack of mould-elements, the part of the rotor on which the supports are directly mounted being shown in axial section;

Fig. 9 is an end elevation of the part of the unit which constitutes the casting machine proper, looking toward the back of the presser block, that is, toward the left of Figs 4 and 6;

Fig. 10 is a horizontal sectional view, taken on the line 1010 of Fig. 9 and showing the manner of mounting the split-ring latch releasing means for fractional rotation on the presser block;

Fig.11 is a side elevation of the split ring:

Fig. 12 is a transverse section through the split ring taken on any of the lines 12-12;

F ig. 13 is a. view similar to Fig. 12 taken on either of the lines 13 13 of Fig. 11;

elevation of the left half Fig. 14 is a side elevation, partially broken detail of the means for governing the tilting of the trough.

external diameter and the thickness of each object being thus determined in advance pursuant to the internal diameter and thickness of a mould-element 16, and the internal diameter of each object bein determined by the amount of metal dumpe into the mouldstructure during the casting o eration. As vindicated in Fig. 3, the mould-elements 16 and 17 are of a common external diameter. At this point it might be well to call attention to the fact that while the stack of elements 16 and 17 shown in Fig. 8 are of the thicknessesdisclosed in Fig. 3, for purposes of making the other figures of the drawing as simple as possible, the mould-elements are not correctly. drawn to their respective relative thicknesses when arranged in stacks 19 forming parts of the showings of Figs. 4, 5, 6 and 7.

Referring particularly to Figs. 4 and 5, the manufacturing unit, additional to the stacks of mould-elements, includes a base 20, a sliding carriage 21, a rotatable turret 22 vertically pivoted on the carriage at its center by suitable arrangements, not shown, having fixedly mounted thereon diametrally thereof two motors 23 the shafts of which are fixed to two rotors 24 suitably mounted,

in ball bearings seated in sleeve brackets 25 fixed to the turret.

In order that when the carriage 22 is suitably moved to the left of Figs; 4and 6 to permit the turret tobe rotated about its vertical axis to cause the rotors 24 to change I positions relative to the length of the base 20, the turret may be locked in place on the carriage, there is provided a locking means including the following parts. A vertical sleeve 26 is carried by the turret and'has slidable therein a locking pin 27, suitably spring-pressed by means not shown to the position shown in Fig. 4. This pin carrles at its top handle 28, for turning the pin in the sleeve, and the bottom of the handle.

and the top of the sleeve are provided with cam surfaces as shownl in Fig. 4, whereby on turning the handle and pln the lower round point of the pin islifted up above the upper plane surface 21 of the carriage and out of the one of the two recesses 29 then engaged by the lower end of the pin. By this means, the handle maybe turned to unlock the turret from the carriage, and on turning the turret to reverse the positions of the rotors 24, the handle 28 need be held thus turned only long enough for the pin to pass beyond the recess 29 of Fig. 4, whereafter, during completion of the turning movement of the turret, the lower end of the pin travels over the plane upper surface 21' of the carriage 21 and drops into recess 29 at the other side of the carriage, which is the rehess 29 at the top of Fig. '6. v

' To facilitate such rotationof the turret, sleeve brackets 25 carry upright handles 30. Power means for'sllding the carriage 21 on the base 20, to move the stacks 19 back and forth relative to the metal delivery means at the left of the machine and the presser block at the right of the machine, are provided, such means including a piston-rod 31 secured at its right end to a bracket 32 depending below the'carriage as shown in Fig. 4, centrally thereof,.a piston 33 secured valve may be set in one of two positions,

as is well known, in one'of which a fluid under pressure is admitted into the cylinder. to the right of the piston 'while such fluid in the cylinder to the left of the iston is exhausted, and in the other of w ich the fluid is admitted into the cylinder to the left of the piston while the fluid in the cylinder to the right of the piston is exhausted. As shown in Fig. 6, the top of the-base is cut away at 37 to accommodate the part 32 during reciprocations of the carriage 22.

The supporting means for a stack 19 carried by each rotor includes three aligning supports 38' which consist, as shown best in Fig. 8, of a stiff outer subdivision 38 secured at its inner end to the rotor as indicated at 39, and reversely bent near its outer end to provide 'a less stiff subdivision 38 opposite the first subdivision radially of the rotor and closer to the axis of the'roton. The subdivision 38 from its free end to-the point of bend in the support is of gradually increasing stiffness, while the subdivision, 38 from the bend to its point of anchorage on the rotor is of. grad-' ually increasing stiffness. These ,parts may well be so designed that at all points the combined transverse resiliency of the two subdivisions is substantially. the same. The support at its outer end-is rounded, as indicated at 38, to facilitate the insertion between the supports and the extraction from the supports of a stack 19, along a line coinciding with the axes of-the stack and rotor.

The positive detent means for engaging the stack and holding the same against movement away from the rotor when finally properly arranged between the supports, in

cludes latch members on each support, as shown best in Figs. 4 and 8. Referring to Fig. 8, each latchmember is a member 40 pivoted at 41 in the space provided by cutting away centrally of its support a slot 42; the inwardly directed jaw at the outer end of the latch member being urged to hold the position shown in Fig. 8 by means of a leaf-spring 43.

The three latch members 40, on each rotor 24, always function to hold a stack 19 on that rotor under the requisite mutual face pressures in all positions of a rotor 24 except in the adjustment of the right-hand rotor of Fig. 4, so that the right-hand. mould-element is in forcible abutment against a part of the presser block construction located within the bounds of the circle definedby the jaws of the three latch members on the rotor, as more particularly described below. These latch members so function, because there are mounted on a web of each rotor, as shown best in Fig. 8, a plurality of circumferentially spaced pins, one of which is shown at 44in Fig. 8 and which may be very precisely adjusted by means of a lock nut 45.

. The presser block construction, which is used to facilitate ,mounting a stack 19 on and demounting such stack from a rotor 24, will now be described.

Referring to Figs. 4, 6, 9 and 10, an upright member 45, of more or less horseshoe shape in elevation, is fixedly carried at the right end of base 20. The horseshoe shape of the member provides the verti-- cally elongated open-topped opening 45?,

shown best in Fig. 9. On its front, that is on its side facing the turret, the member 45 is provided with a projecting portion of reduced diameter co-axial with a stack 19 on the rotor facing the member 45, this projecting portion being marked 45 in Figs. and 6. By this construction, when the piston 33 of Fig. 4 is moved to the position shown, with the rotor 24 to the right of Fig. 4 empty of a stack and with a stack temporarily supported co-axially with the rotor to the left of the presser block, the stack is picked up by the supporting means on the rotor and becomes inserted between the supports 38; and at the conclusion of such movement of the piston, finally compressing the stack axially between the pins, one of which is shown at 44 in Fig. 8, and the portion 45 of the presser block, shown in Fig. 10, the jaw ends of the latch members of Fig. 8 slip over the edge of the right mould-element and thereafter positively hold the stack against longitudinal displacement between the supports 38-until the rotor carrying such stock has participated in a casting operation relative to the stack and has been returned to face the presser block and has been again advanced into' maximum adjacency to the presser block preparatory to releasing the latch members 40 and removing the stack and the intermingled castings from the supports 38 holding the same on the rotor 24.

The latch-member releasing means, carried by the presser block for fractional rotation on the presser block to simultaneously throw the jaws of the latch-members 40 beyond peripheral limits cit the mould-elements of'the stack 19, when the stack is compressed as described in the last paragraph, includes a split ring 46 the construction of which is shown most clearly in Figs. 11, 12 and 13. This ring is fitted for fractionalrotation on the portion (Fig. 10) of member 45 and is held thereon by a stepped groove formation as shown in Figs. 4 and 1.0. The ring 46 is provided with three cam lugs 46, as shown best in Fig. 11, so disposed that with the ring in one adjustment on its axis the lugs are not opposite the jaws of the latch-members 40 but so that when the ring is fractionally rotated each of the lugs engages a latch-member jaw and throws such jaw beyond the peripheral limits of the mould-element previously engaged by such 'jaw. To facilitate such fractional rotation of the ring, the ring carries at one side an offset bar or handle 47. llt will thus be seen that when the piston 33 is next moved to the left of Fig. 4-assuming that some detaining member is interposed to the left of the stack and held against movement with the carriage 21 to the left, relative movement will occur lengthwisely of the machine between the latch-member jaws and the stack 19, and these jaws upon leaving the ring 46 will merely bear against and slide over the outer peripheries of the mould-elements of the stack and sofipermit the supports 38 to move to the left and clear of the stack.

It will thus be seen that there have so far been described the structural and operative characteristics of two of three relatively movable supports, to wit, a first support for the rotor, which is the turret 22, and a second support for the releasing means, which is the upright member 45 of the presser block. The third support, one for temporarily receiving a stack 19 removed from the supports 38 on the rotor as described in the preceding paragraph, includes a plurality of shelves 48 (see Figs. 4, 5 and 9) pivoted at 49, linked together at 50 and having a common operating lever 51. By means of this construction the lever may be used to dispose the shelves in the dotted line position or in the dot-and-dash line position of Fig. 9. As shown best in Fig. 4, each shelf-structure includes a shelf proper 48 precisely adjustable, as by means of the slots and setscrews indicated, as by properly fixing their upper edges which support a stack 19 cm casting operation,

axially with the axes of the rotors 24, when the pin 27 is seated in one of the recesses 29, and when the shelves are arranged as shown in the full line and dotted line position of Fig. 9. The operating lever 51 is used to throw the shelves to their out-of-the-way positions, when the turret 22 is turned to swing a; rotor '24 and its stack toward the presser block construction, with the rotor near the presser block. With the shelves returned to their latter positions and after the adjacent rotor has been moved to its extreme right position and the latch releasing means has been operated, the detaining member mentioned in the preceding paragraph, for engaging the left mould-element of the stack on that rotor during movement of the carria e to the left to disengage the stack from t' e supports on the rotor and deposit such stack on the third support constituted by the shelves, consists of a plate 52 secured to one of the shelf-structures as shown in Figs. 4 and 9.

Referring now to Figs. 5, 7, 14 and 15, illustrating the preferred means for satisfying the second main object, that of providing means for expeditiously removing the stack and intermingled castings from the third support constituted by the shelf-structures just described, then disassembling the stack while segregating the casting, and then cooling the mould-elements and. reassembling the stack in the proper order to facilitate convenient return of the stack, empty of castings, to the rotor, in preparation for another there is provided the following construction.

A U-shaped bracket 53 is mounted on the right end of the base 20, and in turn has ing therein intermin secured thereto an upwardly inclined track portion including a pair of spaced angle iron tracks 54. These tracks are continued beyond a predetermined point 55, by a downwardly inclined pair of angle iron tracks 56 constitutin a downwardly inclined track .ortion. be two track portions are simiarly inclined to the horizontal and in such manner that the angle at the point 55 is a right angle. By means of this construction, when a stack 19 of mould-elements, includled castings to be segregated, is remove from the adjustable shelves 48 and laid on the upwardly inclined tracks 54 as shown, but with the uppermost mould-element below the point 55, and the stack is then moved axially upward, the mould-elements will be advanced one by one to and past said point, as each side-surface mould-element passes just beyond said point, itwill by gravity slide off the top of the stack and pass down the tracks 56, and as each "erip 1ery mould-element thus passes beyon said point it w ll also by gravit travel down the tracks 56 and carry wit it at the commencement of its descent the particular casting the periphery of which was formed 'by said periphery mould-element.

In order to provide for conveniently transferring'a stack of mould-elements and intermingled castings from the third support provided by the shelves 48, to the upwardly inclined tracks 54, and in order to provide power means for moving such stack axially at the high rate of speed desirable for keeping production at the maximum, the following parts are provided. These parts are shown in Figs. 5, 7, 14 and15. A round table 57 is secured, slightly above its center, as the parts are disposed in Fig. 14, on a piston rod 58 of a piston 58, working in a cylinder 59- pivoted horizontally and transversely of the track portions 54, the

pivoting axis of the cylinder having fixed thereon a hand lever 60. As shown in Figs. 7 and 14, this axis partially is formed of the plpe 61, the exterior of which pipe, beyond a controlling valve 62, is open to the interior of the cylinder. A rod or bar 63 is loosely movable transversely of the table 57, and through a pair-of lugs 64 offset from the cylinder. By this construction the table 57, when empty, may be swung from the position of Fig. 5 to that of Fig. 14, by means of the hand lever 60. The top of the table will then lie opposite the back of the presser block structure 45, with the bar 63 ready to be moved to the left of Fig. 14, through the opening 45 (Fig. 9) in the structure 45. When such bar is so moved, say to the point 63 of Fig. 6, the hand lever 60 may then be actuated to sweep the table from the position of Fig. 14 to that of Fig. 5. Of course the bar is not so moved until, with the shelves 48 arranged as shown in broken lines in Fig. 9, a stack 19 is on the shelves, and until the carriage 22 has been moved to the left of Fig. 6 to clear the rotors and stack-supports carried thereby from the stack on the shelves ;it being noted that at the conclusion of such re-disposition ofthe bar its left end projects beyond the left mould-element of said stack, whereupon the table may be moved as just described to the position of Fig. 5, and during such movement of the table, said stack and its intermingled castings are lifted up by. the bar and raised over the top of the presser block structure 45, and as the table passes through a horizontal plane in returning to the position of Fig. 5, theentire stack, with the castings therein, settles down on the table, finally to rest axially on the table and sidewisely against the track portions 54, as illustrated in Fig. 5 'in connection with the lower portion ofa stack in process of disassembly.

now on the table, the valve 62 of Fig. 7 is properly adjusted. Thereupon, the table begins to ascend, and the mould elements, one by one, on reaching the predetermined point 55 marking the junction of track portions 54: and 56, slide 06' the top of the stack and down between the track ortions 56, as shown on Figs. 7 and 5. ravity shoots these elements down between the track portions 56 very rapidly, so that there is an appreciable space between each two descending elements, and consequently all the elements of a stack thus being disassembled reach the bottoms of the trackportions 56 successively and in the proper order. As each periphery mould-element descends, the casting 19 therein dro s below the same and through the space between track portions 56, and

' each such casting is received by a chute 64 for discharge into a suitable basket 65 or the like. Each of the mould-elements, when it reaches the bottoms of the track portions 56,

' strikes a loop member 66 and is thrown to the position shown in broken lines at 66, theretically as 'one' operation.

after immediately by gravity dropping on an upright stack-re-collecting pin 67, inside a receptacle 68; the receptacle being slotted at 69 (Fig. 15) to permit the elements descending between track portions 56 to pass into the receptacle toward the loop member.

7 The receptacle 68 is filled to a suitable level with a cooling liquid, as kerosene, below which level each element is submer ed as it settles itself onthe pin 67, and thus, 1n efi'ect, the stack 19 is cooled and reassembled prac- By the construction a'iior'ded, and the addition of a cover 70 for the receptacle .above the pin 67 when in its position just described, that is, its broken line position, any splash of the kerosene outside the receptacle is prevented.

In order to provide for the convenient transfer of the thus collected and reassembled stack,from pin 67 to the shelves 48, as by the use of a suitable'hand hood (not shown), provision is made the .pin and the stack to the position indicated in 'Fig. 15 by the dot-and-dash delineation of the pin. To this end, there is provided the following construction. The pin it is carried as shown by an oftsetcircular extension71 of a lever 72 inside the re ceptacle and pivoted on the receptacle at 73, this lever carrying a handle 74- outside the receptacle. transversely of and to one side of the machine, and the cover is so shaped as to provide an opening 70 overlyingthe sidewise elongation of the receptacle, as shown most clearly in Fig.7. The receptacle and its cover and the lever are thus s0 arranged that the handle and lever may be turned a one-quarter revolution about the axis 73 to swing the pin 67 up above the liquid level and to one side of the cover below the openfor re-disposing The receptacle; is elongated ing 70*, to dispose the pin 67, carrying the reassembled and cooled mould-elements, horizontal, as shown in Fig. 15. When the stack: is removed from the pin, for transfer,

fying the third main object, that of providing substantially an automatic control for the metal delivery means, the following parts are provided. The metal delivery means is a trough 75, having a metal supplying pocket 76, and rotatably mounted in bearings 77. The means for automatically rotating the trough for dumping at a predetermined rate of speed includes the following parts. Fixed on the trough axis is a grooved pulley 78. Running over the groove of the pulley is a cable 7 9. The upper end of this cable is suitably secured to the pulley inside the groove, as by tying the same around an offset pin 80. The cable has suspended therefrom, at its lower end, a weight 81, adapted by its descent to rotate the pulley, and consequently to turn the trough for dumping. The weight descends against a collection of liquid 82 in a Vertically elongated container 83, the rate of descent of the weight, on releasing the pulley, being able to be accurately and precisely predetermined by thesize of the weight, the viscosity of the liquid and the difference between the diameter of the weight and the inside diameter of the container. t

The means for releasing the pulley, that is, for holding the pulley against rotation during thev delivery of metal from a suitable ladle or the like to pulley, includes an arm 84, spaced from the left side of the pulley as the latter is viewed in Fig. 4, and fixed to the trough axis. This arm carries, near its free end, a stop-lug 85, adapted to co-act with a stop-lug 86 on the adjacent face of the pulley, to hold the pulley against turning. To permit quick release of the pulley to allow the trough to turn for dumping the stop-lug 85 is formed as an enlarged head on a spring-pressed rod 87 on arm 84:, and the rod 87 has fixed thereon a disc-handle 88 whereby the pin may be pulled along its length, against its spring, to release the pulley. Tn dumping, or course the pulley 78, as seen in Fig. 17, rotates in a clockwise direction.

To return the trough to the position shown, in readiness for arranging it for receiving another charge of molten metal before dumping, after the trough hasbeen released to dump the previous charge, the pin is used to rotate the trough in the reverse direction, to cause the pulley 78 to littthe lug 85 latches in place back of the stop-lug 86 as illustrated in Fig. 17.

In order that there ma be used the invention disclosed in U. S. letters Patent No. 1,286,555 issued to me, according to which a certain degree of tilt of the trough is selected and-maintained while the trough is in charge receivingposition, to the end that when the trough is thereafter dumped the same predetermined amount of metal will be delivered inside a stack 19 whether such amount is the same or a less amount than the maximum capacity of the trough'pocket 76, the holding means just described includes a means adjustable to function during holding of the trough to attain such end. This adjustablemeans is here embodied as'follows. The arm 84 is adjustable on the trough axis and adapted to-be fixed in any angular adjustment by the use of clamp-nuts 89. According to this arrangement, the trough may be predetermined to maintain any tilted position, with the stop-lugs 85 and 86 always functioning to hold the trough in that position against rotation in the dumping direction in response to gravity acting on'the weight 81, to predetermine the charge to be received by the trough when filled to the verge 'ofspill at the lower of its two side edges, if the arm 84 be preliminarily properly adjusted on the trough axis and fixed in such' adjustment.

Operation.

Let us assume, as to Fig. 4, that the stack 19 at the right has therein a set of castings just made (when said stack was at the left of Fig. 4), and that the stack 19 at the left is empty of castings. The situation illustrated, then, is that in which the piston 33 has been actuated, withthe stop-pin 27 holding the turret 22 against rotation on the carriage 21, to move the carriage toits extreme right position,.to jam the stack 19 at the right against the extension 45 (Fig. 10)' of the presser block structure 45, to loosen up the grip of the claws of the dogs 40 (Fig. 8) carried by the supports 38 on the rotor to the right of'Fig. 4, and let us assume further that the-situation is that where the shelves 48 have been swung in and up, to constitute the third support defined hereinabove. With the stack 19 at the right thus against the presser blockstructure, the latch-releasin ring 46is fractionally rotated to release the latch-hold of the jaws of the dogs on the 'supports38 relative to the stack. g

If the casting operation which was completed in connection with the stack 19 now at the right of Fig. 4 be notthe first casting operation of a run, there-is being conduct- 1 the disassembling &c. of the stack from the precedin casting operation, as already described ully in c nnection with the numerically characterized structural details of the apparatus provided for such disassembling &c.

Now, with the shelves arranged in their position, as just described, to constitute said third support, the plate 52 on one of the shelves is positioned as shown in Fig. 4, to permit subsequent movement of the carriage 21 to the left relative to the stack 19 over such shelves and to leave the stack loose on the shelvesthe previous actuation of the latlch-releasing ring 46 permitting this resu t. I

Next, with the turret still locked on the carriage, the piston 33 is actuated to move the carriage to its extreme left position. This leaves the loose stack at the left on said third support constituted by the shelves 48,

means, and also overlaps the stack 19 at the left over thetrough so that the trough may be dumped. The trough is then dumped to permit a casting operation to be performed at the left. At the same time, and following the removal of the loose stack on thethird support, a new stack, from the receptacle 68 (Fig. 15) is placed on the shelves 48, with such shelves still arranged to constitute said third support.

- Next, with the turret still locked on the carriage, the piston 33 is actuated to-move the carriage to its extreme right position, drawing theleft stack 19 and its new contained castings away from the trough and moving the empty rotor at the right far enough to cause its supports 38 to move relative to, and overlappingly of the stack just transferred from the rece tacle 68 to the shelves 48the end of this relative movement compressing the stack against the presser block construction 45 and permitting the jaws of the dogs ,40 on the supports 38 to latch into place and positively to lock said stack on the rotor at the right.

the carriage to an intermediate position. I

Now the lever 51 (Fig. 9) is actuated to swing the shelves 48 downwardly and outwardly to clear the path of movement of a rotor and its stack during rotationof the turret. 1

Next, the sto in 27 is released and the turret is swung through one-half a revolution, to reverse the positions of the two rotors as, shown in Fig. 4. The stack just picked up by the rotor previously on the ri ht of Fig. 4, is, therefore, now at the 19% of Fi 4; and the stack previously at the left 0 Fig. 4, and containing castings, is now at theright of Fig. 4. WVith these parts thus reversed, the shelves .48 are again returned to the positions indicated in Fig. 4. In the meantime, the trough 7 5 has been returned from its overturned position, has.

been set in the charge receiving position, and has been given its proper charge of molten metal for the next casting operation.

Next, with the turret still locked on the carriage, the piston 33 is actuated to move the carriage, further to the left of its extreme left position, to overlap the empty stack now at the left over the trough;

whereupon the trough is dumped and a casting operation takes place relative to the stack last mentioned.

Finally, with the turret still fixed on the carriage, the piston 33 is actuated to move the carriage from its extreme left to its extreme right position, whereupon occur and are performed the things specified in the first two paragraphs after Operation above.

I claim:

1.'l[n a centrifugal casting machine of the type including a rotor and a plurality of separate mould-elements of the same external diameter to be detachably carried by the rotor with such elements arranged in series on the rotor .during the casting operation,

the combination with the rotor of a supporting means for the elements including a plurality of circumferentially spaced aligning supports, each support including a member reversely bent into two subdivislons, one of which subdivisions is fixed to the rotor at the end of such subdivision opposite the Y bend, each member extending substantially parallel to the axis of the rotor with one subdivision of each member opposite the other in a radial direction axially of the rotor.

2. The casting machine defined in claim 1, wherein the two subdivisions of a member are both resilient, with one stiffer than the other.

3. The casting machine defined in claim 2, wherein the subdivision the further removed from the axis of the rotor is the stifi'er.

4. The casting machine defined in claim 1, wherein the twosubdivisions of a member are both resilient and the subdivision fixed to the rotor is the stifier.

5. The casting machine defined in claim 1, wherein a first subdivision'nearer the axis of the rotor isof an average thickness, radially of the rotor, less than the average thickness radially of the rotor, of a second subdivision immediately adjacent to the first subdivision.

6. The casting machine defined in claim 1, wherein one of said subdivisions is of gradually decreasing stiffness along the subdivision toward'the point of bend and the other that the combined resiliency thereof, radially of the rotor, at any onepoint, is substantially the same as the combined resiliency of the said subdivisions, radially of the rotor, at various other points spaced from said one point axially of the rotor.

8. The casting machine defined in claim 1, wherein means are provided on the rotor for latching into position thereon a plurality of mould-elements at the conclusion of a relative movement axially of the rotor between the rotor and said plurality of mould-elements to insert the latter between said supports.

9. The casting machine defined in claim 8,

wherein such latching means includes a latch element movably mounted on at least one of said members.

10. The casting machine defined in claim 8, wherein such latching means includes a pivoted latch element provided for one of said members, with such latch element having a working jaw with a field of operation 11:83 the location of the bend in said mem- 11. ,The casting machine defined in claim 10, wherein each member provided with such a latch element is formed with an elongated slot in each subdivision intermediate the sides of the subdivision and with a slot at the bend and joining the elongated slots in the two subdivisions, and the latch ele 111161113 is pivoted in the space afiorded by such s ots.

12. The casting machine defined in claim 8, wherein means are provided for releasing the latching means at the conclusion of a casting operation to permit removal of the plurality of mould-elements from between said members.

13. The casting machine defined in claim 12,wherein such releasing means is mounted for" rotation about an axis substantially concentric with the axis of the rotor for actuation about saidaxis to release the latching means.

'14. The casting-machine defined in claim 12, wherein there are provided a support for the rotor, a support for the releasing means, and a support for carrying a plurality of mould-elements to be delivered to a rotor and for receiving a plurality ofsuch elements on removal from a rotor, and means are provided for relatively moving the first and second-mentioned sup orts toward each other for subjecting thep urality of mouldelements to abnormal face pressures to facilitate actuation of the latch means, for relatively moving said supports away from each other to facilitate transferring the last mentionedplurality of mould-elements. from the rotor to the third support, and for relatively moving said supports toward each other to facilitate transferring another plurality of mould-elements, deposited on the support for the releasing means, from said support to the rotor. V

15. The casting machine defined in claim 14, wherein said first support is rotatably mounted on anaxis at an angle to the rotor axis, about which former axis the rotor may be swung to cause the axis of the rotor to point toward said second support, there being provided a fixed part on which said third support is movably mounted so that said third support may be .mioved to inoperative position and clear of thepath through which the rotor is swung and moved back to operative position when such swinging of the rotor is completed.

16. The casting machine defined in claim 14, wherein said third-support is so formed and arranged as to include two supporting elements elongated substantiallyparallel to the axis of the rotor with such elements spaced apart substantially horizontally a dis-- tance less than the diameter of the mouldelements.

17. In a centrifugal casting machine of the type including a rotor and a plurality of separate mould-elements of the same external diameter to be detachably carried by the rotor, the combination of a base, a sliding carriage thereon, a rotatable turret on the carriage, a plurality of electric motors fixed on the turret arranged with their shafts radial relative to the turret axis, a supporting means for a plurality of mouldelements on each rotor, delivery means for deliverin molten metal to the interior of the plura ity of mould-elements on a motor, compressing means for pressing the mouldelements into a stack under pressure when mounted .on the rotor, and power means for slidin the carriage back and forth on the base, etween turning operations of the turret, to alternately advance a first rotor and its mould-elements toward said delivery m'eans and .withdraw a second rotor and its m'ould-elements I fromsaid compressing means, and to advance said second rotor and its mould-elements against the compressing means and withdraw said first rotor and its mould-elements from said delivery means.

18. The casting machine defined in claim 17, wherein there is provided a receiving means for causing a movement of the second rotor away from the compressing means to leave behind it the plurality of miould-elements reviously carried thereby for removal rom the machine and the substitution on the receiving means of another plurality of mould-elements.

19. The casting machine defined in claim 18, wherein said receiving means is movable out of the way of a rotor during rotation of the turret on the carriage.

20. In a centrifugal casting machine of the type including a rotor and a plurality of separate mould-elements of the same external diameter to be detachably carried by the rotor, the combination of means for receiving the mould-elements and the inter-- mingled castings when detached from the rotor and for guiding the same for movement toward a predetermined point, means at such point for subdividing the mould-elements and castings into sub-groups some consisting of a single mould-element and some of a single mould-element and a casting, and guiding means beyond said point for segregating the castings and for re- 21, wherein the angle of joining of said two guiding devices at said point is substantially ninety degrees. p

23. The casting machine defined in claim 22, wherein the bisector of such angle is substantially vertical. v

24. The casting machine defined in claim 21, wherein said receiving and guiding means also includes a support for the mould-elements when stacked thereon, movable upwardly along the upwardly inclined track portion to advance said elements to said predetermined point.

25. The casing machine defined in claim 24, wherein said support is pivotally mounted so as to be swung toward the rotor to receive a. plurality of mould-elements previously on the rotor and then to be swung back into adj acencyto said upwardly inclined track portion for movin said plurality as a stack toward said predetermined point.

26. The casting machine defined in claim 25, wherein there is rovided a preliminary supporting means or receiving the plu-- rality of mould-elements directly from the rotor, and upon such swinging member there is slidably mounted a'device. for engaging the most distant mould-element and for thereby permitting the device to be actuated to move the entire plurality of mould-elements oil the preliminary supporting means and toward the swinging member.

27. The casting machine defined in claim 25, wherein there is provided fluid-operating means, includinga fluid admission conduit concentric and partially co-extensive with the'pivotal axis of such swinging support,

fill

rails for supporting tions of the mould-elements, but s aced for movin said support and stack of mouldelements t ereon upwardly to advance said elements to said predetermined point.

28. The casting machine defined in claim 20, wherein said guiding mean-s beyond said point includes a track portion having side the opposite side porapart a distance greater than the wi th of the castings.

29. The casting machine defined in claim 20, wherein there is provided a receiving means for the re-stacked mould-lements mounted for movement to remove such stack from the vicinity of said guiding means to facilitate removal of the stack as one unit.

30. In a centrifugal castingmachine, the combination, with a rotary mould structure and a molten metal receiving trough adapted to be rotated to dump the metal in the trough into the mould structure, of a means for automatically rotating the trough for dumping at a predetermined rate of speed, means for holding the trough in metal recelving said holding means and permitting operation of the trough rotating means.

31. The casting machine defined in claim 30, wherein the trough rotating means includes a pulley operatively connected to the trough, a cable wound on the pulley, a weight suspended from the lower end of the cable, and a verticall elongated fluid contadiner within which t e weight is disose v P 32. The casting machine defined in claim 30, wherein said holding means includes an adjustable means to predetermine the angular position assumed by the trough during functioning of said holding means.

Signed at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, this 30th day of July, A. D. 1920.

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position, and means for releasing 

